The priests of Vedic religion, known as purohita, are divided into several types: Roman Catholic priest A priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. ... The term vedic religions collectively refers to Hinduism, since it is the only existent religion that is based on the Vedas. ...
The Hotar is the chief priest, presiding the sacrifice. He is associated with the Rigveda.
The Udgatar intones the hymns for the Hotar. He is associated with the Samaveda.
The Adhvaryu carries out the actual sacrifice. He is associated with the Yajurveda.
The Atharvan was a special kind of priest involved with Soma and fire rituals. The word is from Indo-Iranian *athar not attested in Sanskrit (c.f. Latinater "black"). Later, the Atharvaveda was associated with a legendary rishi called Atharvan.
The division of the Agnihotra among the Hotar, the Udgatar and the Adhvaryu is directly comparable to the Celtic priesthood as reported by Strabo, with the Druids as high priests, the Bards doing the chanting and the Vates performing the actual sacrifice. The Rig Veda ऋग्वेद (Sanskrit ṛc praise + veda knowledge) is the earliest of the four Hindu religious scriptures known as the Vedas. ... The Sama Veda (सामवेद), or Veda of Holy Songs, is third in the usual order of enumeration of the four Vedas, the ancient core Hindu scriptures. ... The Yajur Veda यजुर्वेद is one of the four Hindu Vedas; it contains religious texts focussing on liturgy and ritual. ... See Soma (disambiguation) for other uses. ... Indo-Iranian can refer to: The Indo-Iranian languages The prehistoric Indo-Iranian people, see Aryan This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Latin - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... The Atharva Veda is a sacred text of Hinduism, part of the four books of the Vedas. ... In Hinduism, the Rishis are sages and/or seers who heard the hymns of the Devas; and then wrote them down as Vedic scriptures. ... The Agnihotra is a Hindu religious ritual, performed at dawn. ... A Celtic cross. ... Strabo (squinty) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. ... Druid can refer to: a priest of the religion of the ancient Celts, see Druidry. ... See Bard (disambiguation). ...
External links
The Asylum of Sarabhanga (http://www.geocities.com/sarabhanga/veda.html)
The four principal priestly classes or Rtvijas:#The Brahman, the most learned of them, was required to know the three Vedas, to supervise the sacrifice and to set right mistakes; at a later period his functions were based especially on the Atharvaveda.#The Hotar is the chief priest, presiding the sacrifice.
He is associated with the Rigveda.#The Udgatar intones the hymns for the Hotar.
The division of the Agnihotra among the Hotar, the Udgatar and the Adhvaryu is directly comparable to the Celtic priesthood as reported by Strabo, with the Druids as high priests, the Bards doing the chanting and the Vates performing the actual sacrifice.
The most important of these was the Hotar priest who recited the hymns and the Adhvarya, ‘the officiating priest’; who attended the sacrificial fire and organised all the paraphernalia of ritual.
Although the Udgatar or ‘singing priest’; is not mentioned in this particular list his liturgical chants formed an important and integral part of the ceremony.
In the course of time a large number of verses were gathered together, nearly all from the Rig Veda, and arranged in a manual for the use of the Udgatar.
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